Showing posts with label US Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Congress. Show all posts

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Congressmen urged to invite Iraq Veterans to State of Union

Iraq vets invited to State of the Union

Posted: Jan 18, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, AL -
Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6) is urging Members of Congress to invite Iraq war veterans to attend next Tuesday's State of the Union Address in the U.S. Capitol.

In a bipartisan letter Wednesday, Congressman Bachus and Representatives Jeff Miller (FL), Tim Walz (MN), and Marcia Fudge (OH) asked colleagues to make a special effort to invite returning veterans to the House gallery for the Presidential address.

Bachus said his personal guest will be Noah Galloway of Alabaster, who was severely wounded in Iraq and has since become a spokesman for injured veterans.

Friday, July 29, 2011

GOP elected and veterans? Frankly my dear they don't give a damn!

If there is anyone left in this country still under the delusion the Republican party is for veterans, they will never wake up. The people who really cared about the troops and veterans in the GOP retired a long time ago yet some just assume they care because they say so.

All you have to do is look at all the Bills over the last ten years to know what the truth is, who voted for veterans and who voted against them.

Social Security and Medicare are part of how veterans pay bills just like their disability checks. Everything we need on a daily basis to live is on the line while most of the Republican elected fight tooth and nail for the sake of the tax breaks for the rich. They are not fighting for us. Frankly my dear, they just don't give a damn about the debt this nation owes veterans. After all, since most of the members of congress are in the ranks of the rich, how could they possibly understand that the debt they are talking about putting on hold was due payable as soon as the men and women entered into the military. They will let everyone suffer so that their rich friends get to keep their tax cuts no matter who has to suffer.

White House to veterans: Boehner's plan will endanger your benefits

Joe Newby, Spokane Conservative Examiner

On Tuesday, Obama Administration officials met with representatives of veterans groups in an effort to frighten them - just as the President did with seniors earlier in July - into believing that the Republicans would endanger their benefits in the event America defaulted on its debt.

Although Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to the president, said she believes the military will continue to be paid in the event of a default, officials said the plan being worked on by House Speaker John Boehner “would endanger veterans benefits,” according to Joseph R. Chenelly of the Disabled American Veterans.

“They said the president understood veterans’ anxiety and regretted it,” he said, the Washington Post reported.

According to the Post:

Tuesday’s meeting came on the eve of an online protest meant to protect veteran benefits during the debt crisis negotiations. DAV, the nation’s largest group representing disabled veterans and their families, is organizing a “virtual march on Washington” on Facebook for Wednesday.

Thousands of virtual marchers have registered for the online protest, according to the DAV. Though it will take place primarily on Facebook, links to participate will also be available at http://www.dav.org and on Twitter, using the hashtag #March4Vets, organizers said.

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White House to veterans

This goes on to print how some veterans are blaming Obama for telling them what's on the line but when you stop and think about all of this, the target of righteous anger should be the members of congress not fighting for us. They expect us to forget about all the money that went missing in Iraq they never even thought of looking into. Any idea how far billions could go in taking care of the wounded coming home? They allowed the wars to be ongoing with no one checking on where the money was going but now they complain? They didn't even demand the two wars were made part of the budget as if they were not worth it. All they did was demand the money be there so that we would "support the troops" and now, now suddenly they care about the debt because both wars are in the budget?

I feel sorry for anyone blindly supporting members of both parties without knowing who is the "friendly" and who is the "enemy" of veterans.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Congressman Moran, the veteran and the video

Congressman Jim Moran (D) 8th District of Virginia has become the focus of the blog world because of this exchange with a veteran.




The veteran was respectful asking his question about why the congressman was there instead of in Washington working on the budget because the troops would end up not being paid if the government shut down. Moran listened without interrupting the veteran. When Moran addressed the fact that the majority party (the Republicans) control how congress runs, when they are in session and what hearings they hold, the veteran interrupted Moran and then tempers took over.

While the blog world seems to want to paint Moran as an angry man disrespecting a veteran, this is being blown out of proportion.

The veteran is clearly passionate about the troops but the bulk of his question was about why congress was not working to fix the budget to avoid shutdown. Moran was trying to address that and the veteran's interruption was about the troops. Both men were angry but neither of them got out of control.

At least there is a temporary budget deal to keep the government going as of late last night. All in all the veteran is right and they should have been working on this day and night until they managed to get a budget passed for real instead of these temporary measures. One more thing the media misses in their reporting but the American people are already thinking. How serious were they when Republican leadership didn't think it was worth everyone working overtime for?

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Suspect Arrested in Threats Against Rep. Jim McDermott

Suspect Arrested in Threats Against Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington State

CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Correspondent

Authorities have arrested and charged a California man suspected of threatening to kill Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington last month.

Charles Turner Habermann of Palm Springs was charged in federal court Wednesday on allegations that he made threatening phone calls to the Democrat's office, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reported. If convicted, he could face up to10 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Habermann, 32, was angry about taxes and feared losing a $3 million trust fund.

McDermott found a number of expletive-filled voice messages in December threatening violence against him and his loved ones, CNN reported.

"I'll round them up, I'll kill them, I'll kill his friends, I'll kill his family, I will kill everybody he (expletive) knows," Habermann allegedly said in one voice mail message, according to an affidavit obtained by CNN.
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Suspect Arrested in Threats Against Rep. Jim McDermott


Congressman Jim McDermott's Biography


Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) is serving in his eleventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 7th Congressional District of Washington State, which includes Seattle and parts of several neighboring communities. As a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, Representative McDermott is chairman of its Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee and also serves on its Subcommittee on Trade. Jim McDermott was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 28, 1936. He was the first member of his family to attend college, and went on to finish medical school. After completing his medical residency and military service in the Navy, he made his first run for public office in 1970 and was elected to the State Legislature from the 43rd Legislative District of Washington State. In 1974, Jim successfully ran for the State Senate, and subsequently was re-elected three times.


In 1987, after 15 years of legislative service, McDermott decided to leave politics and to continue in public service as a Foreign Service medical officer based in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), providing psychiatric services to Foreign Service, Agency for International Development, and Peace Corps personnel in sub-Saharan Africa. When the 7th District Congressional seat became open, he returned from Africa to seek election to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected in 1988 to the 101st Congress and is currently serving in his 11th term.

As a physician, Representative McDermott is especially interested in health care issues. While serving in the Washington State Legislature, he crafted the Washington Basic Health Plan, the first state program in the country to provide low-cost health insurance to the unemployed and working poor. In the U.S. Congress, Representative McDermott is consistently active on health care reform issues. He founded and chairs the Congressional Task Force on International HIV/AIDS, and championed the AIDS Housing Opportunities Act. The co-author of a major single payer health care proposal, Representative McDermott is leading the fight in the U.S. House of Representatives to guarantee all Americans comprehensive and affordable health care coverage. Representative McDermott is married to Therese Hansen, an attorney in Seattle. He has two adult children and three grandchildren. He attends St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle.
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Congressman Jim McDermot

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Idaho Soldier Gets Standing Ovation in Congress

Idaho Soldier Gets Standing Ovation in Congress
Posted by George Prentice on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 5:58 PM
A severely wounded Marine from Cottonwood received a standing ovation on the floor of the House of Representatives Monday. Lt. Cpl. Randal Wright is receiving treatment at Walter Reed Hospital for injuries suffered due to an IED blast in Afghanistan where he lost both legs and an arm.



At the invitation of Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick, Wright was invited to tour the Capitol with his family. As an extra surprise, he was escorted to the floor of the House and was introduced and praised by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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Idaho Soldier Gets Standing Ovation in Congress